IR Interview: Jared Douglas For “The Last Woodsmen” [Discovery]

The Inside Reel

Logging company owner/subject Jared Douglas talks to The Inside Reel about filming, logistics, geography and stakes in regards to the first season of his new Discovery reality show: “The Last Woodsmen.”

Transcript

00:00The Last Woodsman, The Danger, begins Friday, November 15th on Discovery and Discovery+.

00:19With something like this kind of show, it's life and death, but it's also very much family

00:26versus business, but they all come together. Could you talk about the decision to let the

00:32cameras come in and see this? It's always a tricky thing, but it's always, I think,

00:37important to show this view of life. Can you talk about that from your perspective?

00:41Yeah, for sure. We got a super good crew of camera guys. It was really challenging just

00:48to let people that aren't in the industry in and showcasing what we do and trying to

00:57keep everybody safe while doing it. So definitely a challenge, but as Discovery Channel does,

01:04they do everything well, they do everything great, and they sent me a great team to show

01:09the world this unique business that we do. So I'm excited.

01:13Locate Ford. You got her coming out.

01:17Deep in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, Jared Douglas navigates his float camp to

01:23its remote logging outpost.

01:25Feels like we're getting out of that wind a little better now.

01:27Yeah, we're good for now.

01:29For the next three months, he and his crew will be off the grid and on the hunt for some

01:34of the most valuable timber on earth.

01:39It's going to come in hard, boys.

01:43Nice and gentle, nice and gentle. Not gentle.

01:47Our biggest asset is our floating camp. We can move it from job to job, drop our anchors,

01:53get to work.

01:54Straight back, Len.

01:57I always like to be present when camp's being moved. Somebody doesn't know there's a rock

02:01protruding from the ocean floor somewhere. That barge camp would be peeled open like

02:05a tin can and sink.

02:07But the logistics, just from the wood point of view, getting to these places, you know,

02:12the aspect of the floating barge, the hotel, all these kinds of things, but also bringing

02:18in this equipment.

02:19I mean, even in the first episode or two, just seeing what needs to be moved in order

02:25for these things to work.

02:26Can you talk about looking at logistics, but counting on the team to fulfill your vision

02:32of what you need?

02:35Yeah, our logistics is a logistical nightmare on the best of days.

02:39So we definitely struggle with that.

02:42Just getting the equipment to the sites to work is a challenge in itself.

02:46You could almost have a show just on that, let alone all the other business that we do

02:51day to day.

02:53I definitely like to be there on the moves because that's usually where a lot of things

02:56go wrong.

02:57I spent all weekend doing it.

02:59So it's just a way of life.

03:02It's very exciting and we do things big here.

03:06It's big wood, big equipment and a crew with a bunch of big hearts.

03:10So I'm excited to show the world that.

03:12Like a glove.

03:13Nicely done.

03:14Touchdown.

03:16Put a couple of ropes on her and we'll be good to go.

03:19Ross is my right hand man and he's full speed, out of lead, getting done.

03:24And he's in charge of float camp.

03:25You on this one, Ross?

03:26Yeah, you bet.

03:27I think I got to get Danny to get the barge a little pull back.

03:30Okay, I'll go grab Hoppy.

03:32A float camp is a floating hotel.

03:3555 rooms, two story.

03:38Has a rec room, weight room, big cook house.

03:41Roast beast.

03:43And I love it.

03:44You wake up and you're at work.

03:4720 feet to go boys.

03:48Hey Ryan, you want to say about that winch?

03:51I can lose everything.

03:52You know, it's a short fall from the penthouse to the outhouse in this business.

03:56You know, when it's scary is when you're supposed to jump and we're going to jump.

04:00But taking the full reins of a logging operation isn't just a massive gamble.

04:04It's also one hell of a grind.

04:07First, Jared and his crew have to track down the giants.

04:11Beautiful, straight.

04:13Then carve out roads so fallers can get to them.

04:17That's when the hazard pay really kicks in.

04:20Can you talk about like the geography of this kind of areas that you work in?

04:24Just so people understand.

04:25I mean, we see the lakes, we see the rivers, but many people probably don't understand

04:30how remote that is.

04:31Could you talk about that?

04:32And knowing the geography, because I mean, even with you flying in the helicopter over

04:36with the First Nations, you know, it's you see the expanse.

04:41Could you talk about that?

04:43Oh, for sure.

04:44It's so remote, but it's so beautiful.

04:49It is extremely difficult to get supplies in and out, get people in and out.

04:54We're flying in lots of aircraft, boating in our crew boats.

04:59They're like a metal crew boat, water taxi type kind of deal.

05:04The guys can boat up to three hours just to get the site.

05:07So we have to have these remote camps just to house people and make sure that they're

05:13not too tired to tackle this dangerous job every day.

05:16So it's a challenge in itself, just getting to work.

05:19And it's a challenge just housing people to the work.

05:22So we live a lot of challenges.

05:26We live a lot of challenges.

05:29Bringing down just one of these behemoths is a puzzle.

05:32One wrong move can be deadly.

05:36Once the trees hit the ground, the yarders take over, dragging 50,000 pound logs to the

05:42road where loaders bundle them up and oversized haulers called fat trucks muscle them to the

05:49water's edge.

05:50Once they splash down, boom boats wrangle them into place until the log barge arrives.

05:57Then it's payday.

06:00It's the specific trees because you focus on that, you know, because it has to be a

06:05certain kind of tree.

06:06It's not like you just get off the boat and cut the first tree.

06:09That does not happen.

06:10It's about finding the trees, but getting up there, building the roads, getting the

06:15workers up there.

06:16Can you talk about that?

06:17Because that's an unusual part that I wasn't aware of until I watched what you guys were

06:21doing.

06:23Yeah, that's a, we call it logging phases.

06:26So every, you got the fall, you got the road built.

06:30Let me back it up.

06:31You have engineering where professional foresters will go out there and make sure that it's

06:36sustainable to harvest these trees.

06:38Then we move into the falling, the road building, the yarding, the loading.

06:44There's so many phases in logging and every phase has its inherent danger.

06:49So we're going to walk the viewers through our process of logging and show you guys some

06:56really interesting characters while we do it.

06:58So I think we made a great show.

07:01I'm hoping that we get some positive feedback and lots of people tuning in.

07:06I think the road's going to get ugly coming up.

07:08Oh!

07:11So far, the yarder finally seems to be secure.

07:14But the true test is still ahead.

07:17A steep stretch of road that will push Jared's overland haulers to their limits.

07:23It's a narrow road, steep, and if you can't get up it, then, you know, there's a chance

07:29of flipping.

07:30On steep grades like these, the safe thing to do would be to take the yarder off the

07:35truck and walk it up the hill on its own tracks.

07:38But that would cost precious time and money Jared doesn't have.

07:42How's she feeling, Lance?

07:44Feeling good, Jared.

07:45Feeling good, buddy.

07:47The thing is, I mean, you mentioned yarding.

07:49You know, that's one of the things that really was an eye-opener for me in terms of

07:53how that works.

07:54But, you know, what people always have to come back to, you know, it's a business.

07:58You're on a timeline.

08:00You're on a deadline to get these things done.

08:03Could you talk about, you know, because it's as much as trying the logistics of getting

08:08it done to the business of getting it done.

08:11Can you talk about that?

08:12Because they're one in the same in many ways.

08:15Yeah, that's correct.

08:16We are on a tight timeline.

08:17We have weather constraints.

08:19We have crew.

08:21We have all sorts of problems that we're up against.

08:24But we got to get that wood to market so that we get paid before we run out of money.

08:29And we can't afford our fuel, our food, our tires.

08:34There's so many.

08:36It's such a moving goalpost every day on how we create this business and make this

08:42business successful.

08:43So it's definitely very interesting.

08:46And I feel like the viewers are going to be shocked at what it takes to make a 2x4

08:52for building houses around the world.

08:55We're going to take the risk.

08:56We're going to take the risk and we're going to push the yarder over the mountaintop.

09:00We're not wasting our time walking this thing through.

09:03We're going to go for it.

09:05To make the climb, the team will need all the torque they can get.

09:09So they'll use a pickup truck to pull the heavy hauler from the front while Jared pushes

09:14from behind.

09:16I feel like this is going to be a complete **** up, but it'll save us hours of time.

09:24There we go.

09:26Actually get a little bit of adrenaline when this goes on.

09:32We're going up over the mountain now.

09:37Come on.

09:39Let's go.

09:45It's going to be exciting.

09:47And the boss's direction too.

09:49That's even better.

09:50No one can get **** to this one.

09:51And my last question.

09:52Thank you, Jared.

09:53Because with any of the Discovery shows, with a lot of it, we talk about risk versus reward.

09:59But we also talk about the aspect of people have to leave their families for times to

10:05go do this work.

10:07And that must be very hard, both psychologically, but also mentally overall.

10:13Could you talk about that?

10:15Because you want to balance.

10:16I mean, these are a lot of stakes here, but you're doing it for the family.

10:20I hear you say it a couple of times.

10:22It's so important, but you're also missing some aspects of your kids' lives.

10:27But it's that pendulum, that counterbalance of these things.

10:31Can you talk about that from your point of view?

10:34Yeah, it's a unique lifestyle.

10:37These guys, they are away from their family.

10:41They're working hard.

10:42They have their work family, of course, which probably gets them through those dark times.

10:46They're missing soccer games or missing baseball games or missing the kids grow up a bit.

10:51But I always find these big-hearted guys, they go home and they really make when they're

10:58time home with their family special.

11:02We do everything big.

11:03Everything's big.

11:04And my wife kind of gets excited with me sometimes because you come home and nothing small is

11:11good enough.

11:12No mundane task is fun.

11:14You've got to make it big, exciting.

11:17It's just the way of lifestyle for a logger.

11:19And yeah, I really think it's an honor for Discovery Channel to pick me, my company,

11:27my crew to come out and look at what we do and show the world.

11:32So please tune in and I'm excited.

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